Monday, January 30, 2006

The Hamas/Hitler Comparison

The rise of Hamas to the leadership role of the PA has brought comparisons to Hitler's accession to German dictator. I believe this analogy is inapt, first of a basic level because Hamas is not the Nazi party. But the argument is made by people who don't believe Hamas is as genocidal as Hitler.

The basic argument, implied here, is that the idea that Hamas will moderate its stance and become sensible once in power was assumed in the past when Hitler won the elections in 1933. Therefore we should be much more worried about Hamas controlling the territory next to Israel.

While I'm sympathetic to this argument, because Hamas is run by a gang of psychopathic gangsters, the situation facing Hamas is quite different from the one that faced Hitler. Hitler restarted the German economy by rebuilding the war machine and built a military force capable of carrying out his express policies. Hamas, on the other hand, is nothing more than a terrorist gang, without an economy or military. Yes, Hamas can wreak havoc on Israel through suicide bombings and missiles, but it cannot invade and destroy the country. If I was Poland in 1933, I'd be pretty scared because Germany at full strength could take over the country in a matter of weeks.

Israel is more powerful than Hamas could ever dream. If Hamas continues with its terror attacks, Israel could destroy the PA infrastructure in a matter of hours. The PA can never touch Israel's military might. Plus, the PA is completely dependent on foreign aid to survive and that might force them to become more sensible. But if it doesn't, Israel is not facing a blitzkrieg.